Allan Zaremberg, president of the California Chamber of Commerce, said that Mexico is California's largest export partner. Kuribrena agreed and added that trade between the two is a crucial part of the the economy.

"Mexico is the first trading partner to California," said Kuribrena. "We are its largest market. Trade between California and Mexico is trade that is worth more than $60 billion."

Both Brown and Kuribrena said they look forward to extending California's ties to Mexico by increasing trade, university exchanges and fighting climate change.

"I certainly think climate change is the overarching existential threat to humanity, so I want to do something about that," Brown said.

On Tuesday, education will be a main topic -- specifically the expanding number of University of California students who wish to study in Mexico and vice versa.

"Through the University of California initiative, we are trying to get 1,000 Mexicans to participate in internships and short-term research in all of the 10 campuses of the UC system," Kuribrena said.

Among other goals, Brown says he wants to "deal with some issues on the refugees that are coming across the border." He added that "a lot of mutual investment" is needed in the long term to help Central American countries.